Safety razor



J. J. EARLEY Feb. 8, 1927.

sAFET RAZOR Filed March 50' 1926 INVNTOR dfi/w55 d. EHR EY ATTORNEYS yPatented' Feb.l s, 1927.

UNITED STATES JAMES J. EARLEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YRK.

SAFETY RAZOR.

Application filed March 30, 1926. Serial No. '$8,552.

The present invention is concerned "with improvements in 'safety razors, particularly.

to improvements in razors of the so-called autostrop type in which thc blade is carried by a swinging blade holder, which may be either locked in operative relationship to a guard plate or may be held against a strop passed between the holder and a friction roller geared to the shaft which mounts the i0l holder.

An object of the invention is to provide a razor of this general character in which .a pair of guard plates are provided, either of tbe guard plates being adapted for coaction with the blade edge and the teethl or the guard plate being staggered relative to each other, so that the edges of the lblade will wear uniformlyif the blade 'is uniformly alternated relative to the guard plates.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unique type of latcbing mechanism for securely retaining the blade holder against rotation when the blade is in operative position for shaving.

A further object of the invention is to ,provide novel blade holding means associated with the guard plate to assure proper alignment of the blade with tb'e teeth of thc guard plate.

Other objects are `to provide a razor of simple. practical construction. 4which will be rugged, durableand eHicient in use. and -ivhich may be manufactured with 'compara-l tive economy.

With the above noted and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features `of construction andfcombinations and arrangements of parts, .as will be more fully hereinafter set forth and pointed out in tbeclairns.. The invention' may be more fully understood from the following description in connection with the accompanylng draW1ngs ,`where1n- Fig. 1 is a top plan vien7 'of a'razor 4em-v bodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof. l'

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

razor.

Fig. 5 is asimilar View looking at the opposite end.

Fig. 6 isa perspective View of the blade.

In the drawings I have usedv the reference 5 character 10`to designate the razor handle Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end view of the which may be detachably connected to a guard element including a plate f'portion 11 disposed at right angles to the axisof` the handle. and formed withoutwardlyaring inclined portions 12 terminating in angularly offset blade receivingguard portions 13 which' are toothed as indicated at 14 'at their outer edges. Ears 15 rising from lthe ends of the plate 11 serve to journal 'a blade holder .shaftA '16 and-a counter shaft 17. f

The shaft ends Which projectbeyond one of the ears 15 are'geared'together vby gears 16a and 17a respectively. Secured .to the shaft 16 is 'a blade holder 18 of moreor less conventional construction adapted tdreceive a blade 19.-

The blade holder 18 is preferably formed of 'av sheet of yhendable spring metal bent upon itself to define a central bightportion 18 encircling .the shaft 16. and a' pair of spring clamping jawsI 18b adapted ,tol receive the blade edge between them. The clamping jaws are grooved at -19 to define a channel-in the blade vholder f which` accommodates anA aligned series of tits 20 struck; in opposite directions from the 'blade 19. The blade is entered` into rthe holder A18 by slidin `it in from one end. rBhe tits 20 enter ,thec annel 18c and a notch 21 in one edge of the blade being engaged by a tongue 22 turned down from one end of one ofV thel clamping4 jilWS l The b'lade'isv adapted 'to lie against the guards 13, andv to properlylocate the blade` on the guards` the blade is preferablvg formedl with a pair of openings 23 near its free edge registeringwith lugs 24 .on the guards".

yIt will be noted vthat the guard teeth 14 of the two guard members 13`are staggered-rel, ative to each other. as indicated byfthe `dot 95 'and dash lines in Fig. 41. Thus, the' portion clearance forthe blade edges, so that the 1 05' entire blade edge may be used in shaving, but

I have found by experiment that even with this construction there is a tendency to unevenness in the wearv at;4 the edges 4due to the fact'that certain portions of the blade 1410 frictional engagen'ient with the strop as-isA customary in a well known type of razor.,

Obviously some means must be provided for locking the blade in either of its operative shaving positions. The latchingy mechanism is best seen in Figs. 2 and 5 -which includes a generally L-shaped spring Iwire latch 30, the shorter arm 31 of which is journalled in a transverse opening in the square end 32 of the shaft 17. The longer arm 33 of the latch is adapted to engage with the adjacent ear 15 to prevent rotation of the shafts 17 and 16.l-

It will be noted that the arrangement of teeth on the two gears 17 andy 16 is such that rotation of the shaft 17 through 1800 will swing the blade holder 18 from one extreme position to the other.

y By rotating the shaft- 17 180, the position of the latching member will be reversed, so that after each half rotation of the shaft 17, the longer arm 31 of the latch i willproject upwardly, and is turned down into operative Q.position by rotating Vthe shorter arm .31`1n its bearings.

Although I have illustrated one of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it

I claim:

1. A safetyl razor including a handle, a guard plate, ears turned up from the end of theA handle, a blade holder shaft, a countershaft journalled in the ears and geared together, guard teeth at bothsidesof the guard plate, a blade holder onthe bladel holder shaft, a blade in the holder adapted to be moved against either set of guard teeth upon rocking of the blade holder shaft, and lugs on the guard plate adjacent the teeth adapted to enter openings in the blade.

'2.,A safety razor including a handle, a guard plate, ears turned up from the end of the handle, a blade holder shaft, a countershaft journalled in the ears and geared together,guard teeth at both sides of the guard plate, a blade holder on the blade holder shaft, a blade in the holder adapted to be moved against either set of guard teeth upon rocking of the blade holder-shaft, and means for locking the blade against either set of teeth including a spring wire latch member rotatably mounted in one end of the countershaft and engageable with one of the ears.

3.-A safety razor including a handle, a guard plate, ears turned up from the end of the handle, a blade holder shaft, a countershaft journalled in the ears and geared together, guard teeth at both sides of the guard plate, a\ blade holder on .the blade holder shaft, a blade in the holder adapted to be moved against either set of guard teeth upon rocking of the blade holder shaft,

and means for locking the blade against either set of teeth including a spring wire latch member rotatably mounted in one end of thecountershaft and engageable with one ofthe ears, said ylatch member comprising a substantially L-shaped length of wire, the shorter arm of which' is rotatably mounted in a transverse opening in one end ofthe countershaft, and the other arm of which is adapted to be sprung into engagement with the ear.

JAMES J. EARLEY 

